Came down from Tipsoo and took the PCT to the southwest saddle of Howlock. Ascended later in the day that I expected, so I only bagged the highest summit point and passed on the pinnacle. There was enough snow that I only really had to deal with dinner plates and pumice for the last 100-150 feet, which was nice.

My favorite hike, climb, and view from any mountain since I've moved to Klamath Falls, including McLoughlin. The sight of Thielsen lurking to the south is just awesome.

Followed the well-documented Howlock Mountain Trail approach and scrambled up the East Peak. From there, the West Peak (pinnacle) seemed to loom over me, so hiked over to it and took the west-side traverse and climbed the north ridge. From the pinnacle I looked down on the East Peak, which appeared below the horizon. In spite of what the USGS map states, I think the West Peak (pinnacle) is higher. Thank you for excellent documentation for this route!

I took the Tipsoo Peak trail to the southernmost switchback, then did a short cross-country to the PCT and hiked it south to below the saddle. This is way shorter and less elev gain than the Howlock Mtn trail.

From the saddle I went to the south (right) shoulder of 8396 and ascended. My GPS, which doesn't provide exact elevations, registered 8,348' altitude. I descended the west (left) shoulder. The latter is definitely the better way of the two.

I looked at your gulley on the south side of pinnacle 8324 and didn't like it at all, so I traversed left (west) around the pinnacle and found a loose but doable route on the northwest side. Found a couple pieces of wood and some wire on the summit. Didn't have my GPS because "doable" means I left everything at the base of the pinnacle ... both hands are required constantly and bulk must be minimized to avoid knocking rocks loose, which I did anyway. They make a scary clatter as they tumble off.

Not really an epic, but I'd call this one an ordeal. Took the Thielsen Creek trail to a point beneath Mt. Thielsen and then came back north along the PCT. My thinking was to attain the Sawtooth Ridge at an easy point and walk the ridge to the summit. Got up on the ridge easy enough cross country but then had to go up and down a few times to actually get to Howlock Mountain. It's possible just to go straight up from the point the Howlock Mountain Trail meets the PCT as what looks like cliffs on a map, really are just steep hikes.

Anyway, when I got close, I couldn't tell if the east summit or the pinnacle were higher. Map shows east is 72 feet higher so I headed there. Loose rock up top. From there, I walked the connecting ridge to the pinnacle and scrambled up to it's base. Walked around left until I found a gully and went up a bit, but it was very loose and scary so I backed off. I had already hit the higher summit anyway.

Scrambled back down to the saddle and scree skied down to the meadows. Ambled cross country til I hit the PCT and found the Howlock Mountain Trail out. Added a couple miles to the day by taking the Thielsen Creek approach. What made this such an ordeal? It was 95 degrees and I went about 18 miles. Didn't hydrate enough or eat enough and it was dark by the time I hiked out. Was on the trail and mountain for 9.5 hours. Ugh. But I had tried to find a way on Howlock from the east and failed a few weeks earlier so it was nice to bag this one.